REJECTION MADE ME STRONG, BETTER – KANTE

CHELSEA midfielder N’Golo Kante is closing in on back-to-back Premier League titles with different clubs, something which was beyond his wildest dreams growing up as a youngster.

The France midfielder swapped the blue of champions Leicester City for Chelsea in a £30million deal last summer, and he could join his compatriot Eric Cantona in winning the league in consecutive seasons for different clubs.

Kante has continued to shine in the Premier League, and is tipped to win the PFA Player of the Year award, but the 26-year-old admits he never felt such a feat was possible growing up, when he was deemed not good enough.

“When I was young, between 13 to 18, I tried to get into professional academies like Rennes, Lorient, Sochaux maybe four or five different ones,” he said.

“But it wasn’t a success because they said things like ‘we have more players like you in our teams and we didn’t need you’.

“So I kept working in my local team Suresnes, a little team in a suburb of Paris.

“I didn’t get much explanation why they didn’t take me in their teams but for me the main reason was maybe just that I wasn’t good enough. There were some players better than me or as good as me.”

The Paris-born midfielder did not let rejection affect him, and when Ligue 2 side Boulogne came calling in 2011, Kante ensured he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

“Because I played in the lower divisions in France, to have the chance to train with players from academies made me think ‘OK, I need to keep learning, working and improving’ because there were some players that play very well, were very strong had good vision, technique and some other things.

“That is what I did when I missed this chance to go in the academies.”

Kante had to work harder than most players to climb the French system, progressing through the lower leagues before joining Caen in Ligue 1, but his lung-bursting displays have suited the intensity of the English top flight.

Full of energy and perfectly-timed challenges, Kante would seem to receive plaudits after every game, but the player himself played down his importance in both the miracle of last season and the resurgence of Chelsea since his arrival.

“Last season we were champions with Leicester and at the moment we are top of the league with Chelsea,” he began.

“That’s why people put it on me but it is not me. I have been in two good teams.

“I am not one of the best midfielders in the world or something like that. I play with some talented players like Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic and Nathaniel Chalobah. They have different styles and I can learn from everyone.”